2014 Charleston Library Conference

Cost: $110, registration required.

Many academic libraries have been relatively slow to build eBook collections for the long term, relying instead on leasing content, purchasing limited use titles and often quietly relegating selection to library users thus implementing short term selection modalities predominantly in lieu of long term collection building. Libraries may be abdicating a professional role in selection and collection development by using these limited view approaches. Professional involvement may be no more than designing subject profiles intended to limit exposure of the library’s budget while offering preselected areas of potential additions. This workshop is a ringing call for academic librarians to engage in responsible, proactive collection development for the “new” format of eBooks. It is right for our profession, right for the long term support of scholarly monographs, and right for our users. We will:

• Present several approaches and basic principles for building eBook collections for the long term,
• Present overviews of the current state of the eBook industry,
• Describe library wide support facilitating multi-modal approaches to eBook collection building,
• Report on the immediate impact of eBook collection building on a typical university campus,
• Describe the roles, reactions, and involvement of students, faculty, and the campus bookstore,
• Analyze use data and use patterns as well as cost effectiveness metrics.

In addition to a variety of library staff, we will be joined by professionals who work with libraries and eBook publishers directly.